Culture & Entertainment

Greg Westlake is an ice sledge hockey player going to Sochi for Canada’s Paralympic Team and the captain of Canada’s National Sledge Hockey Team. He was on the 2006 team that won gold in Terino, but in 2010, he found disappointment in a fourth-place finish. In Sochi, he’s determined to go home with nothing less than gold. Here are five (plus!) things you didn’t know about Greg Westlake.
1. He didn’t always love sledge hockey. “I don’t want to say I hated it, but it was just a lot harder than anticipated. I honestly thought that I would step right in and dominate. I though that I would be a great player and that just wasn’t the case. It requires an entirely different skill set and entirely different muscle groups. Although fundamentally it really is the exact same game as stand-up hockey, I had to retrain a whole bunch of different muscles.”
2. He’s an unofficial Team Canada change-room DJ. “I run the music in the change room so I’ve got a pretty embarrassing wide range of requests on there, but on game day I tend to gravitate more toward the hard rock and heavy metal stuff. I’m a really big Rage Against the Machine fan. Oh and I also like old-school DMX. I like everything.”
3. He loves to give back. “I help with the Soldier On program here in Canada, which is a program for wounded military that have come back from overseas injured, just getting them back involved in sport and showing them what else is out there. There’s no reason you can’t have an active lifestyle. And I prefer working with children more than anything. As the kids age, you kind of form a relationship with them to see where they take it and see what they do with [sledge hockey]. I think it’s always important to pay it forward.”
4. He’s a romantic who wouldn’t pass up the chance to celebrate Valentine’s Day. “I would definitely plan a massive romantic gesture.”
5. He holds a world record in hand-biking. “I set the world speed record for fastest hand-biker ever. I knew the guys who had built this bike, and they had built it for a guy with a very similar body type to mine, and then that person ended up getting injured. So I stepped in, and I just really ended up falling in love with it.”
Bonus: If he weren’t playing sledge hockey, he’d be a huge movie star. “I’m still waiting to be discovered. That’s not over yet.”
Oh, and did we mention he’s kind of hilarious? Read
more about Greg Westlakeand check out our February issue for our full Olympic package.

Sleep

How to recover from a bad sleep

Sleep

How to recover from a bad sleep

Try these tips to feel energized and awake even when you tossed and turned the night before.

Whether brought on by sick kids or the stress of a looming deadline, restless nights happen. Fortunately, it's possible to eat, drink and rest your way back from a sleepless night. Here's how to feel energetic and rested after a bad night's sleep.

Choose the right foods
Why does that doughnut look so very good when you're so very tired? "Sleep restriction has been clearly shown to increase appetite for calorie-dense foods," says Dr. Charles Samuels, founder and medical director at the Centre for Sleep and Human Performance in Calgary. Tara Maltman-Just, pharmacist and executive clinician at Vitality Integrative Medicine in Winnipeg, agrees. "After a night or two of sleep deprivation, we tend to go for things that will give us that instant energy surge: sugar, energy drinks, coffee, even carbohydrates," she says. "However, we'd be best served over the course of the day by making sure we're balancing each meal or snack with protein and a healthy fat."

If you're struggling to keep your eyes open, enjoy eggs with veggies for breakfast or a salad with nuts and avocado for lunch. That way, says Maltman-Just, "you give your body continuous good-quality energy that will release gradually."

Get to know joe
As caffeine-crazy Canadians, many of us can't get by without our morning (and afternoon) cups of joe. But consuming too much caffeine makes it less effective—even when we need it most, like after a long night spent tossing and turning.

To keep your brew working for you, reduce your daily caffeine consumption to one or two cups of coffee in the morning, says Dr. Samuels. "Then, interject caffeine where required," he says. "For instance, if you're sleep-deprived and need to be awake for a meeting that afternoon, that's the time you would use caffeine."

Nab a nap
Add some force to that caffeine kick by adding a 15- to 20-minute nap after you've downed a cup. "A nap is far more effective than caffeine, and a nap plus caffeine is most effective," explains Dr. Samuels. Because caffeine's alertness-boosting effect takes 30 to 60 minutes to peak, drinking a cup of coffee before snoozing will provide the benefits of a rejuvenating short stretch of sleep as well as a natural limit to the nap.

How to avoid a bad haircut

Beauty

How to avoid a bad haircut

This article is featured on:

Bad haircuts are a fact of life. We all usually experience one at some point or another (and have the photographs to prove it). It’s often the result of a moment of daring or something getting lost in translation between you and your hairstylist. However you ended up with your less-than-stellar ’do, we want to help make sure it never happens again.

Be honest with yourself According to Dove celebrity stylist Mark Townsend, the number one mistake people make when getting a haircut is being unrealistic about their styling commitment. If you’ve been air-drying your hair for the past 10 years, chances are you won’t start to flatiron it daily. Pick a style you know you can—and will—replicate at home.

You are not the expert You may have heard certain rules when it comes to cutting hair, but that doesn’t make you an authority. Many customers try to give their hairstylists instructions on the technique to use when cutting their hair. According to Redken’s lead stylist, Jorge Joao, this is a big no-no. Remember that your stylist is the expert and has his or her own way of doing things, regardless of what you’ve heard is “right.”

Use simple language So what should you tell your stylist? Describe the style you want in clear terms. “When asking for a cut, keep it simple and try to use words that won’t confuse your message,” says Joao. “Sometimes, using trendy words or slang can give you a result you’re not looking for.”

Use visuals “Hairstylists are, by nature, visual creatures,” says Townsend. So have images—be they from magazines, the Internet, your personal collection or anywhere else—that will help convey the style you want. A picture really is worth 1,000 words.

Pick a stylist you trust Once you find a stylist who you mesh with and who understands your hair, stick with that person. “When you’re looking for a change, you should go to someone you trust,” says Joao. It’s OK to debate with your hairstylist about possible styles, but if you really don’t trust his or her judgment, it’s probably time to look elsewhere.

What to do if you still end up with something you don’t like Make sure you give your new cut some time. Sleeping on it for a day or two, washing your hair and styling it yourself—even asking friends for their opinions—are all good to do before deciding you don’t like your new ’do. “Honesty is the best policy,” says Townsend, “but saying what you mean and being mean are two different things.”

Beauty

These lip balms will make you forget dry, chapped lips

Beauty

These lip balms will make you forget dry, chapped lips

Cold temperatures and harsh winds can take a toll on your lips—and there is nothing sexy about a chapped mouth. The good news? Our favourite lip balms can help eliminate dry, sore and chapped lips. These affordable picks range from $4 to $32.